Processing references (e.g. memory address pointers) associated with a computer program object, in some cases, requires maintaining data associated with the references. The data associated with the references is stored in a software data structure associated with the references. For example, pointers to objects of a garbage collected programming language are associated with software data structures to mark objects as traversed during garbage collection. When accessing the references, computer code associated with the data structures are used to maintain the data structures. Since the references can be accessed frequently, it is desirable to minimize the performance penalty associated with the computer code. In minimizing the computer code, the computer code may become non-optimal, pessimistic, or complex. Therefore, there exists a need for an improvement in maintaining and handling data associated with references.